Saviours
by rightlane
Summary: A reminder of how much pain and suffering it took in order for Ash and Serena to finally settle down together.
1. High Hopes

**Saviours**

The howling of the wind outside shook the windows. It wasn't particularly bothersome, but it did start to wake him up.

Him. Ash. He was such a nice guy, a genuinely good person that I had fallen in love with. And now, we were together.

But it took so much for us to end up like this.

The lights flashed, the Pokemon moves rumbled, and all eyes were set on me. It was the second time that I competed against Aria, the standing Kalos Queen, for her title, and again, I couldn't believe that I had made it this far already. Ash had already completed his goal of being the winner of the Kalos League, but he one-upped it by destroying Team Flare, beating the Elite Four, and finally, defeating Diantha after a long and exhausting battle. He had done it. I just didn't know if he would stay in Kalos to begin his duties as the Kalos Champion, or if he wanted to relinquish his position back to the Elite Four in order to further his journey to be a Master.

I just didn't know, and it was tearing my heart apart. Part of me wanted for him to be forever happy by having him travel until he thought he had finally achieved his dream, but the other part wanted him to stay in Kalos, so I could be with him.

"And the title of Kalos Queen will be decided after the votes are cast! S'il vous plait, everyone!"

I nervously looked in front of me, knowing that it was useless if I looked above me to see the rising hourglass. Everyone's desires were already set, and there was nothing I could do to change any of it. I looked to my left instead, and met Aria's eyes. She beamed at me, and mouthed, "I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks!", I silently replied back.

"And… the title of Kalos Queen goes to… SERENA!"

I gasped as I looked above me to see the votes cast. There it was, the nearly full hourglass, with nearly double the number of votes cast for Aria. I looked at Aria with tears in my eyes, and said to her, "I can't believe this is happening. I can't."

"You did it, Serena! I… I… I knew that you could do it!", she said. She grabbed my shoulders, and with tears in her eyes, said, "You did it!" She started to cry, and I tried my best to comfort her while still trying to comprehend what just happened. I looked at the cheering crowd, and found the person I was looking for: Ash. He was looking straight at me, with the proudest eyes of all. Our eyes met, and he smiled, then nodded in recognition of me finally achieving my dream.

After receiving the crown from Aria, who insisted on crowning me because she was just so happy that someone she helped was able to reach her dream, I went backstage, where a growing crowd of journalists was starting to gather. "Oh! It's Serena! SERENA! What are your thoughts on…" I didn't catch the last bit as I quickly entered the changing room, desperate to stay out of the spotlight as I could finally enjoy my victory in peace. I walked to the other side of the room, and opened the door.

"Serena!", a happy voice exclaimed. She ran to me, and hugged me tightly. "You did it, you did it! Yay yay yay! I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks so much, Bonnie! You know that I couldn't have done this without you!", I replied with gratitude in my voice.

"My heart's still racing from the voting process! That was amazing, Serena!", another voice yelled. His lightning bolt shaped hair bounced as he ran to me to give my a high-five.

"And it's all because you guys believed in me, Clemont!"

"Serena… I can't believe it. You did it. You… you achieved your dream. I can't tell you how proud and in awe I am right now, Serena.", the final occupant said to me.

I looked up from my hug and high five, and looked at him. Ash. His eyes were staring straight into mine, with that sincere smile and tenderness radiating from him. I blushed, and looked down. "O-oh… thanks so much, Ash… you know… without you constantly telling me, 'Don't give up', I wouldn't have made it this far, you know?"

Clemont smiled, but suddenly jumped. "Oh no! It's already 5PM?! I promised Dad that I'd be back to do some repairs at the gym! Bonnie, we gotta go now!"

"Okay, okay, big brother! Ash, take care of Serena for us, won't you?~", she snidely said. She gave me a wink as I blushed even more in Ash's embrace, and stuck my tongue out to her. "Bye bye! We'll see you tomorrow!"

Ash broke off his hug, much to my disappointment. "Oh, I wish that we stayed like this for a bit longer…", I thought. He reached into his backpack, and pulled out a package.

"This is for you, Serena. I was meaning to give it to you, regardless if you won or lost. It's… it's just a little something from me, and I thought that you'd like it!", he said with a smile.

"Oh! Ash, t-thank you! You really didn't have to…"

"You deserved it. Open it!"

WIth shaking hands, I started to undo the ribbon holding the delicately wrapped box.


	2. Vicious

**Saviours**

It was simply beautiful, because it was, in essence, simple and beautiful. A single crimson feather. I smiled, and raised my head to Ash, and said, "Thank you. Thank you so, so much. I… I…" I couldn't stop the tears from flowing after that brief moment of happiness, because the feather came from something that was deeply painful for me and Ash.

Yveltal flew off in peace after the entire ordeal with Diancie, but it had come back to haunt us. Clemont and Bonnie were separated from me and Ash due to a thick fog that just rolled in over the mountain. I thought that it was best to stay put and hope that Clemont made something that would find us tomorrow. As I was preparing to unpack the sleeping bag from Ash's backpack, I felt something tremor. I looked up towards the slowly descending sun, and gasped. There was Yveltal again, but something was chasing it. "Ash! It's Yveltal!", I yelled.

"Yveltal?! What the?! I thought it flew away in peace after Xerneas calmed it down!", he yelled back as he was running towards me.

It was flying closer and closer, and I squinted my eyes at the things that were chasing it. They were little robots that looked like security cameras, and they were shooting lasers at it. "We have to help Yveltal!"

"Right! Greninja, use Water Shuriken and cut down those robots!", Ash said as he threw out Greninja's Pokeball.

The robots exploded as the compressed water pellets pierced through their metallic frames. "Yveltal! Remember us?! It's okay, we won't hurt you!", I told the flying Pokemon.

But there was no stopping it. It was in such a rage from being attacked that its Dark Aura started to pulse even stronger than it did before. I looked at Ash, and started to panic. He was just standing there, doing nothing, so I ran to him, and shook him. "Ash! We have to go now!"

"But… but… we have to help it!"

"No! You know that it'll be dangerous, and the last time that we tried to stop it, it petrified Pikachu!"

"Pika pika!", Pikachu yelled in agreement.

"Ugh… fine, let's go! C'mon, grab what you can and let's go!"

We sprinted out of the area we were in, and thought that we were in the clear for now. But I was wrong.

Suddenly, a massive shadow appeared over us, and a beam of intense red light hit right between us. I felt a massive pain on my right shoulder, and before I could say anything, I fell to the floor. I did hear one last thing though:

"Serena!"

I drifted in and out of consciousness, only aware that I was being carried by Ash. Ash. He was so gentle when he sprinted to the nearest medical centre with me on his back. There was a sense of urgency that I never felt before in him; it wasn't there when he was rushing Pikachu or a Pokemon to the Pokemon Centre. No, there was some more panic, but I could also sense something else.

"Excuse me?! Doctor?! Someone?! I need help now!", I heard through the red hot pain.

"What happened to her?!", a new voice yelled.

"She was hit by Yveltal's Oblivion Wing!"

"Ob-oblivion Wing?! Okay, okay, okay… Nurse! Prep the G9 solution, we're gonna need lots of it! Bring at least 5 litres, or else we're going to have to deal with advanced stage necrosis! Young man, leave her to us. She'll be just fine, okay?"

I was lifted off Ash's back, and I automatically said to no one, "No… please don't leave me, Ash… I need you… please…"

"Doc! Can I be in the operating room too?! She… she's my best friend, and I should be there for her if I can!", Ash yelled.

"Uhm… okay, go to that nurse right there on your right, and she'll get you changed into the proper set of scrubs. Don't touch anything when you're inside the operating room. It's going to be a tense couple of hours, and we don't want her to die on us."

I felt a cold metal frame touch my back. It was freezing in here, and through my tears of pain, I began to mutter, "Ash… Ash… stay here with me…"

"It's okay, Serena! I'm right here. I'm going to be here for the entire thing. Don't give up hope, okay? We still have to travel with each other… forever!"

I smiled through the tears, and whispered, "Thanks, Ash… I… I lo-"

My mind slipped into unconsciousness as I fell asleep by the power of the needle's anaesthesia.


	3. Transferrance

**Saviours**

But I could still feel my hands. My entire body was numb, just a motionless log. But I could still feel my hands.

His fingers too. I felt the tenseness in his fingers. They were rigid, yet so full of warm life. I thought that I had no control over my body because I was asleep, but somehow, I was able to softly grip his hand.

I couldn't hear a thing, but I could still hear Ash's ragged breathing as he sat next to me throughout the surgery.

The next thing I knew, I woke up. The hospital room. It was a quaint little place, unlike some of the ones I saw on the telly. The walls were a light shade of green with small bamboo prints "growing" from the floor, a lot of potted plants, and just the right amount of windows letting a warm, radiant sun start to shine on my face. I looked to my left, and saw that it was just after dawn, around 6:30AM. I then realised that I still felt fingers in my hand, and looked to my right. There he was, sleeping on the side of my bed, his fingers still interlocked with mine.

I then looked at my shoulder. It didn't hurt anymore, but I didn't dare imagine what the wound looked like underneath the bandages. I noticed a small movement below my line of sight, and knew that Ash had started to wake up.

"Hey, silly… you didn't have to stay with me the entire time, you know?", I softly said to him.

"Serena…? Serena! Oh, you're okay! What do you mean, I didn't have to stay with you?! You were calling out my name throughout the entire operation!", he exclaimed.

I blushed, and thought to myself, " _Oh, I didn't mean to do that… does he know how I feel now? Oh no, oh no, what if this breaks off our friendship forever, because my dumb feelings got in the way of everything?! Oh no…._ " Instead, I said, "Oh! I… I, uh, didn't know that! But I'm glad that you stuck with me the entire way. I… I don't know what I'd do without you, Ash!"

He rubbed his nose, and sheepishly grinned. "Likewise, Serena. I'm gonna go get Bonnie and Clemont. They wandered their way into the hospital after a couple of days of rambling through the forest. Actually, they got here yesterday, and were worried sick that you were going to…" His voice trailed off, unwilling to complete the sentence.

"... I was about to die?"

"Serena… Yveltal's Oblivion Wing didn't make a physical, seeable wound on you. The doctors think that when it hits you, the wings actually disintegrated into billions of sharp, micro "knives", which tore through your muscle fibres. Uhm… basically, you were about to lose your arm."

"But why isn't my arm… well, off?", I shockingly asked.

"Well… you just got lucky, that's all!", he replied. But I could sense that something was off when he said that. I couldn't put my finger to it, but he must have done something. "I'm gonna go get those two, okay? Stay put, I don't want you to injure yourself!"

He staggered out of the room, yelling, "BONNIE! CLEMONT! SHE'S AWAKE!"

I stared as he ran out of the room, and thought to myself, "What did he do? My arm was supposed… supposed to come off, but what did he do? I have to find out!" I pressed the "nurse" button on the side of my bedframe, and a nurse quickly came into the room.

"Is there something I can help you with, miss?", the nurse asked with a polite but concerned voice.

"Yes. What sort of procedure was used to counteract the shredding of my arm from that Oblivion Wing attack?"

"Well… I'm not at liberty to tell you much, but I can say this: the procedure used involved taking some Aura from a compatible person in order to reverse the effects of the acute muscle tears. Your particular case of muscle loss needed a lot of Aura, so we had to find someone that had massive reserves of it. That's all I can say. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No… that's it, thanks very much!" I knew that Ash had done something else to save me other than grabbing my hand throughout the procedure. I recalled him telling me a story about how he was able to manipulate his Aura like a Lucario, and that he had lots of it, but never had a real use for it. He also mentioned that it was related to his own direct life force.

His life force.

He gave up part of his life to save me.


	4. Risks

**Saviours**

I looked out to Ash as he limped off and found Clemont and Bonnie sleeping on the couch at the end of the hallway. "He gave up his life force to save me.", I continued to repeat to myself. "He gave up his life force to save me."

"Serena! Oh, I'm so glad you're alright!" A pair of small arms leapt onto me as a small but excited voice yelled.

"Oh, Bonnie, thank you! I'm just fine now, thanks to Ash!", I replied.

"Bonnie! Don't do that, Serena's still tired from all the surgery!", Clemont exasperatedly told Bonnie.

"It's okay, Clemont! I feel much better now!", I replied with a small grin on my face. My eyes started to go towards Ash's eyes.

"Glad you're with us, Serena." He flashed a small grin to reassure me that he was here for me.

"Ash, I… I… can I talk to you alone for a second?", I asked.

"Huh? Oh, sure. Clemont, Bonnie, do you mind?", he inquired with a curious tone.

"Sure, of course! Take your time!", Clemont said. "C'mon, Bonnie."

"Coming, big brother!" Bonnie took Clemont's hand and walked off, but before she walked out the door, she flashed me a snide smirk that made me blush a bit.

They exited the room, and closed the door. It was just the two of us in the room. I took a deep breath, and started to cry.

"Serena?! Oh no, what's wrong?!"

"A-Ash… why did you give up part of your life for me?"

"What do you mean, my life? I don't understand…", he replied. But I could see that he was actively trying to tell me a white lie so I didn't have to understand why.

"I know you're lying, Ash. Just tell me, please…" I started to sob even more as I couldn't bear to face the fact that Ash was willing to share his life with me.

"Oh, Serena… it's okay, it's okay, I'll tell you, okay?" He reached forward and gave me a hug to stop me from crying. I gasped a bit, and in spite of my teary eyes, began to blush just a slight bit again.

"You see… when I was running to the nearest hospital with you in my arms, I kept on trying to make sure you were awake by saying your name every so often. You wouldn't respond to anything, but you kept on saying, 'Ash, don't leave me…' I didn't know what to do, so I told you, 'I'll never leave your side, okay?!'", he said.

I blushed. "Did… did I really say that stuff?"

"Mhm."

"And did you really say that you'll never leave my side?"

"Yeah."

"Did you mean it?"

"I did. It… it just hurt so much to see you in that much pain. I… I felt helpless, and I couldn't do anything but console you when you were at your worst levels of pain. And…"

"And… what?"

"I don't know. When you said my name while I was running to the hospital, I kept on feeling this buzzing feeling in my heart that gave me more energy to keep going. I don't know."

I looked at him with teary eyes. "A buzzing feeling? Like what?"

"It just felt like there was a burst of energy that I got when I heard your voice. It happened before too, when I was battling the gyms that had taken out most of my Pokemon, and I had only Pikachu or another teammate left. Your voice always carried me through, and I don't know why.", he sheepishly replied.

"Well… I learned something from this too. I didn't know that people could die so easily."

"Serena, let's not talk about de-"

I cut him off. "Ash, I want you to know that I'm serious right now. Listen to me." For some reason, I began to have a rush of confidence and hope in my gut. "Ash. Close your eyes."

"Why?"

"Just do it, okay? Remember what you said before, about trying new things? You told me to just do it, because in the end, if it doesn't go your way, I'll at least have something left."

He closed his eyes, and replied, "I remember. Why?"

"This is why." I leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.


	5. Heart to Heart

**Saviours**

My heart was beating fast - an understatement, really, because it was beating like I were about to take my last breath. I drew back after a moment; my lips lingered on his cheek for the briefest of moments before I completely drew back to my pillow. I looked at him, and said, "That… that was for all the times you've helped me, and all the times that you pushed for me to strive even more, and everything that you've given me. Ash, I… I..."

Ash looked at me with confused eyes while slowly rubbing the area that I just kissed. "I… I don't know what to say."

"Well… like you said, at least I'm left with something in the end when I failed, right?", I dejectedly said with my eyes pointed straight downwards.

"No, no, it's not that. It's just that… I don't know what I'm feeling. It's… it's kinda like when I first interacted with my Aura. It was a tingly, fluttering feeling. But this… it felt much stronger. I don't know why."

My eyes began to shift slightly upwards, and I began to blush. "You… you what?"

"Well, Aura is a life force that's able to be manipulated, but… there's also something about it that not a lot of people know about it. I didn't understand it when I was first taught how to use my Aura, but Sir Aaron did say that love helps replenish Aura. Love helps maintain your life force, and that's why love is one of the most important forces of all."

"Love?" My blush got even deeper. "L-love? Uhm, Ash… do you… do you love me?"

"I don't know. But my heart's beating really fast, and this is the first time I've ever felt something like this." He began to have a slight red mark on his cheeks as well. "It… well, it felt nice, Serena."

At this point, my heart started to beat faster again. I looked straight into his eyes and said, "Don't move, okay?" I reached out with my arms and wrapped them around his torso. I felt his heart beating fast, just like mine. Then I realised that they were beating at the same speed.

"S-Serena?"

"Shh. Don't move, okay?"

"N-no, it's just that… well… I want to do this." I felt his arms wrap around me as he pulled me in a close embrace. "Is… is this what love feels like?"

"I think so, Ash. I think so."

He sat down on my bed, and we just sat there with our arms around each other, not moving as we relished each other's presence. I guess that we were so shocked and enamored by each other that we didn't hear the door creak open.

"Serena…?", a small voice whispered. "AH HA! I KNEW IT! CLEMONT! SERENA AND ASH ARE TOGETHER!"

"BONNIE?!", Ash and I yelled at the same time. Our arms flew off each other as major blushes started to pop up on our faces.

"I THOUGHT THAT YOU WERE OUTSIDE WITH CLEMONT!", I shrieked with obvious unintentional panic in my voice.

"I just wanted to check on you, Serena~", Bonnie said with a "I knew it" smirk on her face. "CLEMONT!"


End file.
